It is a very interesting place to see. He and his wife keep the place so neat. I mean NEAT. I've never been a cherry laurel fan but he has a curving row of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen, trimmed into big standards. He has an alley of palms down his drive and neat xeriscape beds around his house. The place has almost a formal Mediterranean look. I totally wasn't expecting to see anything like it up in the woods of Seville. And then there's the fruit. I love persimmons and sand pears! Thanks for the invite, Ill. Enjoyed it very much. Bill

I'm anxious to see the new building when it's finished. It's getting close! Your link for FriendsoftheGarden.org didn't work. You had some extra stuff in there.

Well, I think I finally have a good list of public gardens for my list. Here are the places I found thanks to those of you who added to this list for me. I appreciate your help. This is copied from my website. There are links to each of these on my website if you are interested in finding out more about a specific garden - the link is below - click on Texas Public Gardens in the left column. "Here is a listing of Texas public gardens and nature centers that would make a great place to visit on a side trip during your next vacation. Click on the links below to plan your next trip to see some of these beautiful gardens. If you have suggestions to add to this list, please contact us below." Armand Bayou Nature CenterÂPasadena Bayou Bend Collections & GardensÂHouston Beaumont Botanical GardensÂBeaumont Chandor GardensÂMineral Wells Chihuahuan Desert Research InstituteÂFt. Davis Clark GardensÂWeatherford Colleen Bright GardensÂWoodway Corpus Christi Botanical Gardens and Nature CenterÂCorpus Christi Dallas ArboretumÂDallas Earl Harrison House and GardensÂWaco Fort Worth Botanic GardensÂFort Worth Grapevine Botanical GardensÂGrapevine Green Acres Master Gardeners Demonstration GardensÂRockport Heard Natural Science MuseumÂMcKinney Hermann Park ConservancyÂHouston Ladybird Johnson Wildflower CenterÂAustin Mercer Arboretum and Botanic GardensÂMercer Moody GardensÂGalveston Mrs. LeeÂs Daffodil GardensÂGladewater Peckerwood GardensÂHemstead San Antonio Botanical GardensÂSan Antonio Shangri-la GardensÂOrange S.M. Tracy HerbariumÂCollege Station South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature CenterÂCorpus Christi Stephen F. Austin Mast ArboretumÂNacogdoches Texas Discovery GardensÂDallas Tyler Municipal Rose GardensÂTyler Valley Nature CenterÂWeslaco Waco WetlandsÂWaco Water Lily Collection at Civic League ParkÂSan Angelo Zilker Botanical GardensÂAustin Here is a link that might be useful: Allen Garden Club

I took my fancy camera and never took any good pictures with it. With my phone, I took one view picture and a couple pictures of one plant that really interested me. View 1 Plant of interest 1 Plant of interest shot 2 Note in the background of my plant of interest plant, there is a large Desert Willow which I was quite surprised to see as I did not think those would do well here. But it seemed quite pleased. The positive: the garden is very well constructed and has a fantastic variety of plants that include many of the recommended plants for this area. They even have the famous Hot Wings Maple tree. And it's the type of garden that will be different each time of year that you visit. It's worth seeing several times I have no doubt. The negative: The guide did not really provide much of a "tour" per se. He was there. But he never mentioned the main feature of the garden being the berms that had been created to provide many of these plants with the preferred drainage type, aka "please don't let me sit in water". It's also very deceiving to the novice eye because the berms are top-dressed with gravel. The gravel is great. But he really never mentioned that underneath is a very carefully crafted soil system. I think it's important to understand that it isn't just your basic Colorado clay sitting there, throw some plants on it, and cover with gravel. The landscapers clearly placed special soil mix, created berms, added nice hardscape "feature" rocks and plants, then top dressed with pea gravel and other stone. With all that being said, I'm really glad I went. I know where it is now and I plant to visit again. Plus there is a beautiful park with a big lake right across the street. Bonus!